by unexaminedlife on 4/30/21, 5:50 PM with 1 comments
In today's world I read plenty of articles about the possibility of an alien invasion (I promise I'm not a nut job so please keep reading :) ).
The point I'd like to try to make is that in essence an "alien invasion" has already happened on our planet. That statement is probably not what you're thinking so again, please keep reading.
I'm an agnostic so religion isn't in the equation, so let's step back into the recent history of human civilization. I'm not talking Rome or even the original civilizations along the Nile river in Africa. Let's imagine we're a little birdy (the proverbial fly on the wall) who has just witnessed the first human to human communications. Not just grunts of cavemen but real speech of words in some language that both (or all) of them understood.
If I'm that little birdy I'm at first in disbelief but also then immediately in awe of this new power that has arisen, that no species has exhibited or witnessed in the entire history of our planet. I'm not trying to waste your time or stroke my ego with elegant prose to get to the point so let's just talk about it. That must have been an amazing event. In all probability my guess is that other species, who had yet to evolve to the point that they could communicate in language, MUST have encouraged the further evolution of this "super" species. But, that would assume that other species had the ability to perceive this event for what it was. A truly remarkable and historic event. I can't say for sure but of all the articles I've read on the topic and my own observations of the world around me I can't help but think that other species did in fact understand what was happening. Imagine the excitement of possibilities that would entail.
CONTINUED IN COMMENTS...
by unexaminedlife on 4/30/21, 5:50 PM
Flash forward to today, what have we done with this new capability? So far I would say we've mostly squandered it. We've distrusted one another (from different countries, and even within our own countries). We've created enormous devastation to one another, the planet and every species that has existed ever since. I wouldn't necessarily say this was "on purpose", but let's reflect for a moment on what has happened on this planet due to the extraordinary phenomenon that is human civilization.
Now let's get back to the original title, which is (for me) a question as to how we should expect aliens, should they exist and/or should they discover and attempt to learn about / understand us as a civilization. We wonder how they would treat us should they encounter us in the not-too-distant future. I would propose that we already have a reference point from which to extrapolate.
Humans have already experienced an alien invasion in my mind. But we were it. We were the aliens with extraordinary super powers. I think with that in mind we should reflect on how we behave and (dis)respect the other species surrounding us already. I think this could be a useful way to view how any other alien civilization might observe and interpret who we are as a species and whether or not we are worth "keeping around".